Paul Moseley/MCTDallas Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd practices today. The Mavericks face the Miami Heat in Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night. The series is tied, 1-1.

DALLAS — Here’s the one instance where it helps to be a really old guy.

Especially if you’re an old guy with a really good memory, like the one belonging to the 38-year-old Jason Kidd.

If the Mavericks are overly impressed with themselves over Thursday night’s Miracle at Miami, their point guard merely needs to point out the lesson he taught an opponent during the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals. Nets-Boston, of course. The details from May 25, 2002, are still tattooed on Kidd’s memory: In Game 3, his Nets built a 74-53 lead over three brilliant quarters in Boston, and had but 12 minutes to kill to take a 2-1 lead in the series — only to get plowed under by the Celtics’ historic 41-16 fourth period.

“We were hurt. I mean, sick — in the sense that we gave one away,” Kidd recalled today, when he and the Mavs prepared for Game 3 tonight against the Heat. “And we have to stay there (in Boston) and sit in that town and hear everything (about the) collapse.”

Kidd wasn’t exactly sterling: He turned it over five times and went 0-for-7 from three.

But you know what happened next: Just when Boston thought it had seized control of the series, the Nets won three straight, including Games 4 and 6 on the Celtics’ floor.

Moral of the story: “The experience of going through it, and in the next game, being in the same situation and handling it a lot different (was valuable),” Kidd said.

“So we understand (the Heat) feel they gave one away, and they’re going to be ready to come and take this one.”

Here’s an oddball stat through two games: Across 95 minutes, LeBron James has attempted a grand total of six foul shots.

By contrast, he had 24 in the last two games combined against Chicago.

“I do have to be more aggressive in the paint,” said James, who was fifth in the league in free throw attempts during the regular season, with an 8.4 average. “Six free throws in two games — I do that in my sleep in one game. So that’s not me. I’m going to make a concerted effort to try to get to the rim, create some more opportunities for myself and my teammates.”

The Mavs are wondering what all the fuss is about: “Well, everything he’s done is a dunk or a layup,” Kidd said. “You’re not going to shoot many free throws when you’re laying the ball in. I guess that’s one way we’re keeping him off the line.”

Much has been made about the “celebration” staged by James and Dwyane Wade after the latter’s corner 3 gave Miami a 15-point lead with 7:14 left in Game 2.

And while its proximity to the Dallas bench didn’t exactly make it an ideal location for chest bumps, James had a response prepared when the subject came up today.

“We’re an emotional team. When we make plays, we can congratulate one another,” he said. “I don’t see why this whole thing has been blown out of proportion. I’ve seen Dallas go on plenty of runs before. You know, if JT (Jason Terry) hits a 3 and they make a big run, if he runs down the court doing the whole wings expanded (gesture, imitating a jet), do we count that as a celebration as well?”

Erik Spoelstra watched the tape and crunched the numbers from Thursday night’s collapse, and essentially came to the conclusion that the Mavs’ 22-5 blitz was a fluke.

“There are a lot of misconstrued thoughts,” the Heat coach said. “There were 14 offensive possessions going down the stretch when we were up 15. Eleven of them, we would take. We executed well enough to get the opportunity to (score). You have to give Dallas credit defensively, but we executed well enough. There were three very poor offensive possessions.”

Any coach would take that 11-to-3 ratio, especially up 15. Apparently he’s not so bothered by the fact that every one of those 11 (except one) was a jump shot, and more than half were from 3.

So why do Dirk Nowitzki and Terry seem to snap at each other all the time?

“We have a kind of love-hate relationship,” Nowitzki said. “We ride each other a lot. We talk to each other a lot. We argue a lot, even during games, but it’s all because we want to win, we want to play together.

“When we lost Steve (Nash), obviously this franchise was down, to lose a great player like that. But I give Donnie (Nelson) some credit. He brought in Jet, who has been a point guard in this league and a veteran and had a good career there in Atlanta. That was a big move. And for us, he’s been phenomenal. He’s been our closer over the last couple of years.